Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center: Venture Equity Project Podcast: Recent Episodes
Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
Host Weilyn Chong explores the ins and outs of getting funded as an entrepreneur of color - featuring the world’s brightest early stage entrepreneurs and those working to solve this complex issue. Each episode, Weilyn chats with an early stage entrepreneur to gain insight on everything from how we can increase access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs and tips on getting in front of VCs and angels.
Ever wondered how investors can help entrepreneurs of color in a meaningful way? How can entrepreneurs interact with the VC and investment ecosystem more effectively? Or the parallels between language learning and breaking into entrepreneurship? In this season’s finale episode, Jeanine Suah, X in Residence (XIR) at Brex and Founding Partner at Rezilyent Capital, brings her real and authentic perspective to these questions. She shares her energizing morning routine, the meaning behind an “intentional” year, and how to embrace failure.
In this week’s episode of the Venture Equity Project Podcast, Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, a Professor of Practice at the School of Engineering and the founder of the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab, shares key qualitative and quantitative insights on the venture capital space. We dive into the differences between angel investors and LPs, the parallels between DEI and ESG, and the vision and mission of the Venture Capital Inclusion lab.
Here are some questions we cover on the podcast:
- What have been some key findings the Venture Capital Inclusion Lab has discovered?
- What is the current landscape of investment on both the LP side and the Angel investor side?
- What are the differences between angel and LP investing? What is a difference most don’t think/know about?
- When it comes to inclusion, what are some differences between the LP and Angel space?
- Why is it important to adopt a systems lens when approaching the question of lack of capital flow for entrepreneurs of color?
- Why are the inequities replicated across different spaces?
- How do we intentionally create points of access in venture capital?
- In what ways do minority focused funds lead to more stigmatization?
In this episode of the Venture Equity Project Podcast, Emma Joy Obanye, Managing Director of Capital Enterprise’s ‘OneTech’, sheds light on the current state of entrepreneurship and venture capital flow in the UK. Through sharing her own experience as an entrepreneur and detailing the work and programs OneTech is doing to build a more equitable future in venture, Emma gives insight into the similarities and differences between the venture space in the UK and US. Emma and host Weilyn Chong also chat about the flaws with the mainstream narrative of entrepreneurship, bootstrapping your business, and what it takes to build a board game.
Here are some questions we discuss on the podcast:
- How has it changed over the last 5-10 years?
- Where do you think it is heading?
- What are some challenges that an entrepreneur of color faces when accessing capital in the UK? How are these challenges different/unique to those in the US/other countries?
- What are some ways the Venture Capital space is moving to a more equitable future?
- What is the process of getting funding in the UK?
- What is the mission and vision of OneTech? What have been some of the successes and challenges OneTech has faced?
In this week’s episode of The Venture Equity Project Podcast, James Oliver Jr, Founder of the ParentPreneur Foundation, co-host of his own podcast Parents Making Profits, CEO and Co-founder of Kabila, and Co-Founder of the world's cutest twins, Thaddeus and Zoe, shares his authentic journey as a founder and the role entrepreneurial storytelling played in building the Foundation.
Questions we explore on the podcast:
- How have you been able to shape your story through media platforms? How has the news/media outlets portrayed your story as an entrepreneur? Have there been gaps between the way you tell your story and the way news media outlets portray your story?
- What role did storytelling play in the journey of the ParentPreneur Foundation?
- Why is storytelling important for the entrepreneurship community? Why is storytelling important for entrepreneurs of color?
- What is a part of your entrepreneurial journey that is not often captured in the public narrative?
- You host a podcast, Parents Making Profits, what made you want to start a podcast? What is the mission and vision of the podcast?
Over the last two years, many CEOs and business leaders have placed more importance on DEI and bias training within their company. But how do we know if the bias training works? What are the indicators of effective bias training programs?
In this week’s episode of the Venture Equity Project Podcast, Richard Leong, an expert in the DEI space, talks with host Weilyn Chong about the key factors of an effective DEI programs, his perspective on unconscious bias training, and how business leaders can set up effective DEI training into their companies.
- Why is DEI and bias training important? Why is there a need for DEI training?
- What does bias training look like when it works?
- What does bias training look like when it doesn’t work?
- Why is unconscious bias training so popular? Is it effective?
- What is the “didn’t know better” mentality? How does it affect DEI progress?
- What are the biases that Asian Americans face and what can we do to mitigate them?
This week on the Venture Equity Project Podcast, TaChelle Lawson, Founder & President of FIG Strategy & Consulting, talks about the importance of intentionality when it comes to bias training and DEI initiatives. She explores tangible steps we can take to combat our own biases, shares her own journey in being vulnerable with her biases, and gives her insights on the hospitality industry through a DEI lens.
More about the Venture Equity Project Podcast: The Venture Equity Project Podcast is a storytelling platform where we bring on the world’s most incredible entrepreneurs, forward thinking academic, nonprofits, and venture partners to talk about how we can take steps to fix the complex problem of inequity in venture.
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is proudly hosting and producing this podcast. The Center is a non-profit that is building a better path for entrepreneurs worldwide by improving inclusion, access, and knowledge in entrepreneurship.
None of what we do could be possible without all of the amazing support from our sponsors including Nasdaq, Lehigh University, Airbnb, Bank of the West, KPMG, Wilson Sonsini, Woodruff Sawyer, Hubspot, Nasdaq Foundation, BPM, and California Community Colleges.
In this week’s episode of The Venture Equity Project Podcast, Weilyn is joined by Samir Goel and Wemimo Abbey, the founders of Esusu. Esusu is a financial technology platform that leverages data solutions to help residents and improve property performance. In this podcast, they explore into their fundraising journey, the mission and vision of Esusu, and their take on using data for good.
Some questions we explore on the podcast:
- What is the mission and vision of Esusu?
- What inspired the creation of Esusu?
- What was the fundraising process like? What factors made fundraising challenging for you?
- As a founder, what do you feel has been unexpectedly challenging? What has been unexpectedly easy?
- What are some exciting things that are coming for Esusu’s future?
- What is the problem that Esusu is trying to solve? What makes Esusu’s approach unique?
- Why is data so crucial to Esusu’s mission?
- How does Esusu leverage data to establish and boost credit?
- How is Esusu using data to bridge the racial wealth gap and dismantle housing barriers for working families?
- What is an example of the way data drives Esusu?
In this week’s episode of The Venture Equity Project Podcast, Weilyn is joined by Aaron Walker, CEO and Founder of Camelback Ventures, and Melvin Freeman, Director of Data Strategy at Camelback Ventures. From the mission and vision of Camelback Ventures to the applications of data in creating a more equitable future for entrepreneurs of color, Aaron and Melvin dive deep into the fundamental role data plays in all of Camelback Ventures’ projects.
Here are some questions we explored:
- What is the mission and vision of Camelback Ventures and how does data drive the mission?
- What actions can main stakeholders take to be a part of creating a more equitable future for entrepreneurs of color?
- For those who don’t know, what is the Capital Collaborative? What is the mission and vision of the Capital Collaborative? What sparked the creation of the Capital Collaborative?
- In what ways does the Capital Collaborative use data for good?
- What is the Camelback Fellowship?
- How can we change the entrepreneurial landscape for entrepreneurs of color through data?
- What are some exciting plans for the rest of 2022?
- What is the problem that Camelback is trying to address with the Capital Collaborative?
In this week’s episode of the Venture Equity Project Podcast, Max Crowley, Director of the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative, dives into what it means to use data for good. Max shares what the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative is all about, how we can use data to create a more equitable venture future for entrepreneurs of color, and how human development research relates to the entrepreneurial landscape.
Questions we explored on the podcast:
- Could you give a brief overview of the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative? What is the main mission and motivation behind the collaborative?
- What is the goal of the Evidence to Impact Collaborative? What led to the creation of the Evidence to Impact Collaborative?
- In what ways can data help us make meaningful strides towards a more equitable venture future for entrepreneurs of color?
- What role do you see human development research in the entrepreneurial ecosystem?
- Why is a dynamic data infrastructure key to creating systemic change and transformation for entrepreneurs of color?
- What are some questions driving the research on a more equitable venture future for entrepreneurs of color?
- What is the current landscape of capital flowing to entrepreneurs of color? What data and research in human development has been done in the entrepreneurial ecosystem?
- What does it mean to use data for good?
More about the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative:
https://evidence2impact.psu.edu/
More about the Venture Equity Project Podcast: The Venture Equity Project Podcast is a storytelling platform where we bring on the world’s most incredible entrepreneurs, forward thinking academic, nonprofits, and venture partners to talk about how we can take steps to fix the complex problem of inequity in venture.
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is proudly hosting and producing this podcast. The Center is a non-profit that is building a better path for entrepreneurs worldwide by improving inclusion, access, and knowledge in entrepreneurship.
None of what we do could be possible without all of the amazing support from our sponsors including Nasdaq, Lehigh University, Airbnb, Bank of the West, KPMG, Wilson Sonsini, Woodruff Sawyer, Hubspot, Nasdaq Foundation, BPM, and California Community Colleges.
In this episode of The Venture Equity Project Podcast, Weilyn talks with D Marie, Founder of MyRA, about the ins and outs of fundraising as an entrepreneur of color. D Marie authentically shares her journey building MyRA and details the challenges and successes she faced during the ideation, fundraising, and building stages.
Questions we explored on the podcast:
- What was the fundraising process like? What factors made fundraising challenging for you?
- What are your thoughts on the current state of capital flow?
- As a founder, what do you feel has been unexpectedly challenging? What has been unexpectedly easy?
- Why have you chosen to bootstrap and raise through pitch competitions?
- What do you wish fundraising looked like?
- You are a trained registered nurse, what was the transition into the startup space like?
- Why did you decide to start MyRa?
- What problems is MyRa solving?
- What is the idea behind MyRa?
- How did you take the idea of MyRa to product?
- What does the future of MyRa look like?
More about MyRA:
https://myra.tech/
https://www.instagram.com/themyraapp/?hl=en
More about the Venture Equity Project Podcast: The Venture Equity Project Podcast is a storytelling platform where we bring on the world’s most incredible entrepreneurs, forward thinking academic, nonprofits, and venture partners to talk about how we can take steps to fix the complex problem of inequity in venture.
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is proudly hosting and producing this podcast. The Center is a non-profit that is building a better path for entrepreneurs worldwide by improving inclusion, access, and knowledge in entrepreneurship.
None of what we do could be possible without all of the amazing support from our "Sponsors including Nasdaq, Lehigh University, Airbnb, Bank of the West, KPMG, Wilson Sonsini, Woodruff Sawyer, Hubspot, Nasdaq Foundation, BPM, and California Community Colleges."
In this episode, we are joined by Jill Johnson, Co-Founder of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL) to explore the current state of capital flow. From tangible steps investors can take to build a more inclusive environment to why educational programs are not enough to solve the lack of capital to entrepreneurs of color, Jill engages with each of these topics through personal stories and her journey building IFEL.
Questions we explored on the podcast:
- What are the current problems that face entrepreneurs of color and women entrepreneurs in the current landscape?
- What are the barriers that women entrepreneurs face when accessing capital?
- What solutions have been tried and have not worked?
- You’re quoted as saying that entrepreneurs of color and women entrepreneurs are not the people that need to be fixed. Can you expand on this?
- Who needs to stop trying to fix entrepreneurs?
- Who needs to be fixed and why?
- In what ways is IFEL aiming to create access to capital, knowledge and networks?
- What is conscious intentionality and how can it overcome bias?
More about the Venture Equity Project Podcast: The Venture Equity Project Podcast is a storytelling platform where we bring on the world’s most incredible entrepreneurs, forward thinking academic, nonprofits, and venture partners to talk about how we can take steps to fix the complex problem of inequity in venture.
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is proudly hosting and producing this podcast. The Center is a non-profit that is building a better path for entrepreneurs worldwide by improving inclusion, access, and knowledge in entrepreneurship.
None of what we do could be possible without all of the amazing support from our "Sponsors including Nasdaq, Lehigh University, Airbnb, Bank of the West, KPMG, Wilson Sonsini, Woodruff Sawyer, Hubspot, Nasdaq Foundation, BPM, and California Community Colleges."
In this episode of the Venture Equity Project Podcast Nicola Corzine, the Executive Director of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, lays the groundwork for Season 1 by detailing the ins and outs of the Venture Equity Project. From the project’s origin story to the importance of data in understanding the current state of capital flow to entrepreneurs of color, Nicola shines light on the Venture Equity Project’s short term and long term vision. Here are some questions we discussed on the podcast:
- In a nutshell, what is the venture equity project?
- What inspired VEP?
- Why data?
- Who are the partners? How did this group of partners come together? How were the partners chosen?
- What makes VEP different from other projects out there?
- What work has VEP done so far?
- What work still needs to be done in the project?
More about the Venture Equity Project Podcast: The Venture Equity Project Podcast is a storytelling platform where we bring on the world’s most incredible entrepreneurs, forward thinking academic, nonprofits, and venture partners to talk about how we can take steps to fix the complex problem of inequity in venture.
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is proudly hosting and producing this podcast. The Center is a non-profit that is building a better path for entrepreneurs worldwide by improving inclusion, access, and knowledge in entrepreneurship.
None of what we do could be possible without all of the amazing support from our "Sponsors including Nasdaq, Lehigh University, Airbnb, Bank of the West, KPMG, Wilson Sonsini, Woodruff Sawyer, Hubspot, Nasdaq Foundation, BPM, and California Community Colleges."
Host Weilyn Chong explores the ins and outs of getting funded as an entrepreneur of color - featuring the world’s brightest early stage entrepreneurs and those working to solve this complex issue. Each episode, Weilyn chats with an early stage entrepreneur to gain insight on everything from how we can increase access to capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs and tips on getting in front of VCs and angels.